Where is St Louis 24?

FREDERICK KEBADIRETSE
Staff Writer | Monday July 5, 2010 00:00

The non-alcoholic St Louis 24 was launched in December 2008 as a brand extension of the long established alcoholic lager, St Louis.

The beer quickly became a common site in many liquor outlets around the country and even in supermarkets alongside food and other grocery. The product was set to curb irresponsible drinking by giving beer drinkers an alcohol-free option while enjoying the taste of their favourite beer.

A few months after the launch, KBL reported that the new product was a market hit and that demand was exceeding expectations. But this was contrary to observation because the non-alcoholic beer remained stacked in liquor outlets while consumers purchased alcoholic beers.

Most people said they could not see the sense of drinking a non-alcoholic beer because they drank beer for its intoxicating and 'relaxation' effects caused by the alcohol in it; not for taste. A year later, the non-alcoholic beer is visibly absent from the market and slowly becoming extinct in most places where it was a popular site. First, the supermarkets stopped selling the beer. Now most liquor outlets have ceased selling the product, saying they cannot get it from the supplier if they order it.

A survey by The Monitor last Friday around major liquor outlets in Gaborone could not raise a single unit of the non-alcoholic beer. At least four major outlets (bottle stores) said they had stopped stocking the beer a long time ago because people were not buying it. 'No one bought it,' said a cashier at a Riverwalk liquor outlet. 'We just piled it up and it would stay there forever. That's why we stopped selling it.'  At some outlets, the problem cited was lack of supplies from the manufactures, which made them believe the beer was no longer being produced.

The excitement had lasted only a few weeks of sampling the product and petered out, a retailer said.  Contacted for comment, KBL's Corporate Affairs Manager, Thapelo Letsholo, said they had not halted production of St Louis 24, but had curtailed it after being advised by the Ministry of Trade and Industry to stop trading it in supermarkets. 'We are still producing it,' Letsholo said. 'I do not know why it is not available in those liquor outlets.'

The brewer, which is a subsidiary of BSE-listed Sechaba Brewery Holdings and SAB Miller, launched St Louis 24 when it came under pressure from the Botswana Government to help curb irresponsible drinking and alcohol abuse.  It followed the imposition of a 30 percent levy on locally produced alcohol and alcoholic beverages as the government clamped down heavily on abuse.

The levy has hit KBL hard, driving consumers to hooch and imported alcoholic beverages, which come cheaper without the surcharge. The company has recorded its worst financial performance ever, pointing to the levy as blameworthy. But the government is not about to let up and is actually threatening to resort to its original 70 percent.

On the other hand, KBL has teamed up with other major players in the alcohol industry and formed the Botswana Alcohol Industry Association (BAIA) to campaign for responsible drinking. The success of this industry appeasement overture is yet to be seen.